The record is for weeklies anyway - monthlies like Action and Detective aren't eligible.

The nearest contender now is probably the French title Spirou. It's issue count is higher than Beano's, but it was suspended during the latter part of World War II and thus for the purpose of the record can only count it's run from 1946 onwards.

Please excuse me if I appear a bit testy here but that's the first mention of the record being for weeklies. As it wasn't clear to me if it was Dandy, Beano or both which went fortnightly at some point, then whichever or both can't qualify as weeklies for the complete run. Also unclear is whether the record is for continuous numbering or simple longevity never mind the continuous numbering. As digifiend points out, Spirou has had a long life, but if publication was suspended, is that not the same sort of problem we have with B or D going fortnightly? A fortnightly is not a weekly.Spirou certainly started publication earlier and as we have cast doubts about the weekly suggestion, longevity would appear to lie with Detective Comics, commencing, as it did, in 1937.I see that Phoenix seems to know the record is for continuous numbering, so perhaps I am missing something from the posts here as I haven't read anything that definitively states that is what the record is for. Confused? That's me.

All that remains to be established, even if the numbering of Dandy Xtreme started at 1, is the actual issue number of The Beano for that week during the fortnightly run of Dandy Xtreme when it actually overtook The Dandy/Dandy Xtreme in terms of numbers issued.

paw broon wrote:

Also unclear is whether the record is for continuous numbering or simple longevity never mind the continuous numbering.

If I might clarify. When Thomsons produced issue 3800 of The Beano they marketed it as the record-breaking issue number. As that was incorrect, what I wanted to know, and still do, was the issue number of The Beano that actually took the record from The Dandy. The fact that when The Dandy became Dandy Xtreme it went fortnightly is not important to me because Dandy Xtreme continued the numbering as established by The Dandy. The point at which The Beano took the record occurred at some point during the run of Dandy Xtreme.

Please excuse me if I appear a bit testy here but that's the first mention of the record being for weeklies. As it wasn't clear to me if it was Dandy, Beano or both which went fortnightly at some point, then whichever or both can't qualify as weeklies for the complete run. Also unclear is whether the record is for continuous numbering or simple longevity never mind the continuous numbering. As digifiend points out, Spirou has had a long life, but if publication was suspended, is that not the same sort of problem we have with B or D going fortnightly? A fortnightly is not a weekly.Spirou certainly started publication earlier and as we have cast doubts about the weekly suggestion, longevity would appear to lie with Detective Comics, commencing, as it did, in 1937.I see that Phoenix seems to know the record is for continuous numbering, so perhaps I am missing something from the posts here as I haven't read anything that definitively states that is what the record is for. Confused? That's me.

Thanks for that, Lew. Now we need to know if the fortnightly issues are enough to stop it being the longest running weekly. From what has been written above, that seems unlikely. However the numbering would appear to have nothing to do with the record itself, it is simply the number of years the comic has been running as a weekly. Do I have that right? If so, we are back to a competiton between Spirou and Beano, aren't we? I can't find the passage of time when S was suspended and B went fortnightly. Can anyone shed any light on it or do we just draw a veil over it and not check?

However the numbering would appear to have nothing to do with the record itself, it is simply the number of years the comic has been running as a weekly. Do I have that right?

No, Paw, in my opinion you don't. If you look at the front cover of the issue in question, they put Guinness World Record in the top left-hand corner, and, in the top right-hand corner, 3800! inside what can easily be interpreted as a medal. Nowhere is there any overt suggestion that Thomsons are lauding their product's longevity per se. Just the number 3800, but as we know, that is misleading because the numerical record had been reached quite a bit earlier, and apart from The Dandy/Dandy Xtreme, there don't appear to have been any other candidates.

Obviously, I don't mind in the least if other members want to see the record in terms of longevity. Equally, I am not remotely bothered if the same, or other, members want to disqualify Dandy Xtreme because it was fortnightly. I am happy to include it because the numerical progression of The Dandy was maintained for it. Furthermore, I am not in the least concerned that I might end up in a minority of one. All I want to know is the issue number of The Beano the week after it overtook The Dandy during its briefish Dandy Xtreme years. That will be my interpretation of the record, and I will be happy with it.

Thanks Phoenix, good points, well made!I have some solid info. on war time problems for Spirou and The Beano. And, by the way, the Dutch language version of Spirou, Robbedoes, closed down some years ago - that's so no-one hares off in that direction.Spirou commenced publication on 21st. Oct. 1938. Publication was suspended in summer 1943 and resumed on 5th. Oct. 1944, shortly after liberation. It is currently at #4040.The Beano stopped being a weekly and went fortnightly "during WW2" , resuming weekly publication in 1949. If anyone can supply dates, that would be a big help.So it looks like numerically it isn't the record holder. And, it could be considered from the above, and pending more accurate dates, that is isn't even the longest running weekly. I'm really curious now, so it would be good if the experts on here could help settle this.

Spirou commenced publication on 21st. Oct. 1938. Publication was suspended in summer 1943 and resumed on 5th. Oct. 1944, shortly after liberation. It is currently at #4040. The Beano stopped being a weekly and went fortnightly "during WW2" , resuming weekly publication in 1949.

OK, so The Beano only holds the British record. Without knowing the full SP it is impossible to make any sensible comment on Spirou, although it is reasonable to assume that it had some metaphorical fixed Nazi bayonets up its rear end, but The Beano cannot be criticised for going fortnightly during the war because, due to blockades, Thomsons couldn't get enough paper to print their complete raft of papers, comics, story papers and magazines on a weekly basis. Their entire output suffered. Indeed, it wasn't until April 1949 that like The Beano, The Big Five returned to being published weekly. The Amalgamated Press only managed to keep The Champion on a more-or-less weekly basis by closing most of their major story papers such as The Magnet and The Gem in 1940, and transferring the necessary amount of paper from their allocation to what became their flagship title for boys.

Please excuse me Phoenix. This reply is meant for all who are and should be following this topic, as I don't wish this topic to deteriorate into a 2 man discussion.The effect of the war on the publications is considerable in that it caused both to change their publication decisions. Have a look at the Lambiek history of the comic :-https://www.lambiek.net/magazines/spirou.htmYou will note that:-"In 1943, the German Propaganda Abteilung wanted to assign a German administrator to the publishing house, which Dupuis refused. A publication stop was decreed by the oppressor in the Summer of that year. Dupuis managed to by-pass the ban by publishing the books 'L'Espiègle au Grand Coeur' and 'L'Almanch 1944' in the following months, but the Germans saw through the plan."Also of interest without lending much to the topic is the following:-"The communist Doisy, whose real name was Georges Évrard, was the driving force behind the "Amis de Spirou" and their camps, code of honour and secret language. He had even written hidden messages for the Resistance in his editorials! During the publication ban he kept the Spirou spirit high through the puppet shows starring the magazine's main heroes performed by André Moons and his Farfadet Theatre."

So, the German war effort made paper supplies to the UK scarce, as they were sinking our ships, causing The Beano to forego weekly publication, and on the mainland, Nazi pressure produced the decision to temporarily suspend publication. Both comics therefore have to be counted as continuous weeklies only from when they returned to weekly schedules. And, bearing in mind Phoenix's comment, surely neither publication can be criticised for being victim of the Nazi war effort.Please get involved the rest of you.

It is worth remembering that Spirou's problems were much more acute than those experienced by British publishers such as Thomsons and the Amalgamated Press because the Germans were already occupying France and other European countries.

20 Sep 2015, 21:03

colcool007

Mr Valeera

Joined: 03 Mar 2006, 18:06Posts: 3675Location: Lost in time, lost in space

If the record is for longest running weekly, then the Beano takes it as it has been going since 30 July 1938. This may explain why it holds the record instead of Spirou. If you are looking at duration instead of issues numbers, then you would go for the Beano rather than Spirou.

As to why it holds the record instead of DC's Action. I always thought that this was due to DC's Action being a monthly instead of a weekly.

However, I too would be interested in knowing what other comics have had a run of 77 years or so. Here Phoenix could be of great value to all of us and let us know what comics he knows that are close to this length of publication run, but did not quite make it as that would help those of us that want to find the comic that the Beano has beaten to gain the record to discard those comics from our search.

_________________I started to say something sensible but my parents took over my brain!

It looks like Guinness World Records counted from their respective first issues and ignored the fact that both Beano and Spirou had periods where they weren't appearing every week (Spirou has more issues, but Beano launched three months earlier and is only behind due to being fortnightly for several years). [EDIT: Beaten to it]

It's notable that when the Dandy overtook Comic Cuts' record of 3006 issues, they claimed to be "the longest running comic... ever!". If they were going by issue numbering though, Spirou would have had them beat too. They should've specified British.

If the record is for longest running weekly, then the Beano takes it as it has been going since 30 July 1938. This may explain why it holds the record instead of Spirou. If you are looking at duration instead of issues numbers, then you would go for the Beano rather than Spirou.

As to why it holds the record instead of DC's Action. I always thought that this was due to DC's Action being a monthly instead of a weekly.

However, I too would be interested in knowing what other comics have had a run of 77 years or so. Here Phoenix could be of great value to all of us and let us know what comics he knows that are close to this length of publication run, but did not quite make it as that would help those of us that want to find the comic that the Beano has beaten to gain the record to discard those comics from our search.

The only comics that came close, apart from Dandy at 75 years, were Comic Cuts and Illustrated Chips at 66 years or so.

Yes, the record states it's for "the longest running comic published weekly" so Beano beats Spirou. Yes, it went fortnightly for a while, and skips a few weeks at Christmas these days, but for most of its life it's been weekly so I guess they turned a blind eye to any hiccups in frequency. As for why they announced it with issue 3800 I suppose they felt it looked better to use a nice round figure.

The Beano stopped being a weekly and went fortnightly "during WW2" , resuming weekly publication in 1949. If anyone can supply dates, that would be a big help.

The following information comes courtesy of The Beano Diaries by Ray Moore (Kashgar). Issue 1 of The Beano had 28 pages. It was reduced to 24 with issue 63 (Oct. 7 1939). In June 1940 the page count became 22 with issue 98, then 20 with issue 101. In the November it went down to 18 from issue 120. The Magic Comic went under with issue 80 (Jan. 25 1941), and The Skipper with issue 544 (Feb. 1 1941). The Beano's page count was reduced to 16 with issue 129, and began to appear fortnightly from issue 161 (Aug. 30 1941). In January 1942 the page count became 14, and then 12 in the April. Things remained stable until April 1947 when there was a further reduction to 10 pages. From October 1948 the page count again became 12 but only on alternate fortnights, but due to the continuing paper shortage, in the previous January (1948) the dimensions of The Beano had been reduced from 12'' x 8.5'' to 11.5'' x 7''.

In March 1949 the page count stabilised at 12. Weekly publication was reinstated in the July, but the comic came out on Fridays instead of Tuesdays, as had previously been the case. In the September the publication day changed to Thursday.

Lew, it didn't go fortnightly, "for a while", it was years from earlyish (can someone supply the date, please?) in WW2 till June 1949. Around #366? the front page was changed to read "weekly" As for Spirou, it missed 2, perhaps 2 and a half years, which equals roughly between 104 and 130 weeks, whereas Beano missed, at a guess and minimum 180 weeks. Even allowing they both missed the same number of weeks, Spirou has to be running longer as a weekly publication as it started back weekly before Beano. You can't have a record for something which breaks the rules for judging the record and a comic which published fortnightly for years cannot be considered a weekly publication for the totality of it's run. During that hiatus in weekly publication, the masthead did not read, "weekly but just for many years we are a fortnightly, so don't look for your favourite comic next week 'cos we wont be there, we're a fortnightly, see?"Seriously, while I consider much of the stuff in the Beano up to about mid '70's to be superb, I have to be aware that it does not deserve this record. And, as an aside, while I adore the work of JIJE' in early Spirou, that comic has not entertained me as much as The Beano.

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